I’VE BEEN HALF ASSING IT LIKE A MOTHER-FUCKER
I had the realisation yesterday that I’ve been leaving probably 80% of what I’ve really got to give on the table, and as a result?
I might as well not even have been bothering!
Okay, okay, so I guess that last bit isn’t quite true – showing up at ALL is better than nothing, right? You create a habit, you learn some stuff, you get better and you get SOME sort of outcome …
Right?
In theory this IS true, and actually one of the principles of success I most abide by and also preach on is show the fuck UP.
Show up for the muse.
Show up for your message.
Show up and sell!
Show up and work that ass OUT.
Show up DAILY on the things that matter to you.
It’s the same sort of premise as making space for your dreams, which is something else I’ve been writing about and living by for years now.
I noticed that part of how I relatively easily maintained great fitness and a lean body was simply because I put daily time and focus into it. Every day, no matter what, day in and day out, no matter WHAT.
Some days were like magic and flow and OMG and yes …
Others kinda sucked balls, I hadn’t slept (full blown insomniac in my mid-late twenties after my first marriage fell apart) or else I was just trying to do SOMETHING in between 20 client PT sessions, or I just wasn’t FEELING it.
But consistency is one thing I’ve always had in spades – I’ve always been good at seeing the MASSIVE benefits of playing the long game, and so anytime there’s something I REALLY REALLY fucking want, I commit fully to the daily work and then I DO do it.
I took my consistency approach and results from fitness, and applied the same principles to blogging, and then selling online, I started making 6-figures online, then multiple-6, then 7, now multiple-7 and scaling to 8. Somewhere along the way I realised that while I was making money I wasn’t managing it great, so I did what I always do:
Make a decision, commit to the decision, put daily time and space aside to invest into this area, don’t worry about the ‘what or how’, just show the fuck UP and you WILL create clarity, you’ll figure shit out, and ultimately? You’re going to fucking get somewhere.
When I look at the outcomes I have in various areas of business, fitness AND life, I can hand on my heart say that it’s a result of showing up.
I believe that if something is worth doing at all, it’s worth doing daily and LIVING by. As an artist in particular, I flat out do NOT agree with the idea of showing up only when inspiration strikes. As one of my favourite authors put it – and this is the difference between somebody who gets to MAKE it with their art vs somebody who dreams and wishes and one days –
“Yes, I believe in writing only when inspired. Fortunately inspiration strikes every morning at 9am sharp”
Have a mother-fucking ROUTINE, baby, if you want to produce an incredible body of work, and also, by the way, the only way to get those days of ABSOLUTE pure magic is to show up every day … it’s not like you know which day you’re going to write the BEST THING YOU EVER WROTE and maybe randomly go viral | change the world | figure out what your entire life is ABOUT, or just have a surprise 100k launch or WHATEVER.
Anyway.
I feel as though I’m getting a little off track …
Actually I wasn’t even remotely talkng about business, anyway!
I was warming up for my Muay Thai sess yesterday, and there was a pretty badass chick doing drills with her trainer in the ring, nearing the end of her session. I train at a private fight club and it’s often just me and my trainer, so I don’t get to see other people – especially girls – training or fighting too often.
What I noticed, as I settled into my skipping, was not just that she was clearly stripped back to the bone as far as body fat and SUPER fucking fit, but that she was leaving NOTHING on the table. You know when you watch somebody doing some sort of extreme physical activity and you can see that they are SO all in they’re almost flying?
It’s like watching magic unfold.
I know I’ve had many training sessions like this in the gym, where I step FULLY into flow and power and I become unstoppable, it’s like I’m levitating, and I can vaguely feel that people are watching in some kind of awe.
I also have this feeling pretty regularly when I’m writing … headphones on as I have now, people talking and laughing and doing whatever they’re doing around me in the cafe or on the plane or wherever … and I suddenly slip into ALL in flow. My fingers are moving like I’m possessed. I’m FLYING. Nothing can stop me and the words are just GUSHING out, completely perfectly and YES.
When I have a writing session like this, it’s not uncommon for somebody to afterwards make some kind of awe-infused comment about how focused I am; how fast I type. I can actually do about 6k words an hour when I’m in this sort of flow!!
But the thing is …
The TRUTH is …
I slip into this ABSOLUTE flying flow state a lot less frequently than I’d like to.
In my writing.
In my training.
In certain social situations.
In life.
All this passed through my mind yesterday as the rope continued it’s constant turning while I watched this girl just flow and flow and GO. At one point I must have turned slightly to one side, because the TV up on the wall of the fight club caught my eye and I noticed her picture on it, with a fight date for next week.
Okay.
Makes sense.
She’s training for a fight so of COURSE she’s going all in, right?
Well, yes –
But which comes first?
And I just intuitively had the feeling that this is a person who doesn’t fucking hold back in her training. She’s fighting to win, not just FOR the fight, but for all of it. PLAYING life, at least in this area, like she means it.
And it made me realise:
As much as I DO show the fuck up, day in and day out, in so many areas of my life; I’m a consistent mother-fucker, anybody who has spent time with me will tell you that it doesn’t matter WHAT mayhem or madness or just LIFE is going on, I do my shit DAILY.
But yet –
The ALL IN LEAVE NOTHING ON THE FLOOR AND I WILL DIE TRYING attitude?
It ain’t there as much as I’d like for it to be.
That’s a CHOICE, it’s actually just a HABIT, I’ve got out of the habit of leaving EVERYTHING, and I would say I’ve become emotionally fat and complacent about how I do the work … not all of the time, as the stuff I said above is true; re – just keep showing up and those magical days WILL ensue.
In the gym.
In your art.
In life.
But here’s the thing –
Being ACTUALLY ALL IN and doing it like you mean it IS a daily choice. And the truth is that as a successful person who is a high achiever and kinda ahead of the rest in multiple areas it’s REALLY easy to half ass it and tell yourself you’re doing the work.
I know for a fact that MOST people who read this will think I’m being ridiculous, too hard on myself, maybe even a little self-destructive for referring to myself as lazy and complacent for not PUSHING harder.
They’ll think I have some kind of hustle disorder. lol. Priorities out of whack or some such nonsense.
But the ones who are born for it …
Those who have experienced the taste of blood and sweat and gore and guts from going all IN, and know that there IS no better taste or sensation …
Those who like me are (let’s just admit it) kind of EASILY ahead of the rest in all areas …
Those who are ACTUAL fucking 1% within the 1% …
You get it.
Don’t you?
You know:
That you and I, we can rest on our laurels and still come out looking the part, making the money, living the life, success is easy. Click your fingers, decide, show up, do the work, it’s done.
And don’t get me wrong …
It’s great. I appreciate my own efforts at easily having and also maintining and also yes continually IMPROVING upon the multiple 7-figure purpose-based biz, the fit / lean body, the lifestyle on my terms, badass soulmate clients, friends, life, etc.
I love it!!
But yet …
It’s actually kind of fucking boring. You know? I mean, once you’ve got the whole ‘how to be the 1%’ thing sorted (mindset!) then it IS really easy to maintain, and whilst you appreciate it, you’re not getting that THRILL, that RUSH, that CAN I CAN I CAN I feeling you used to get.
And it occurred to me:
I’m no longer okay with being the 1% or even the 1% within the 1% and being able to pat myself on the back because I AM more successful, more fit, more whatever, than a lot of people.
So the fuck what?
Actually, it’s a complete lie and a sign I’m deliberately hiding out and playing small. Because if I was actually serious about growth I’d be consciously surrounding myself with WAY more people who are WAY further ahead of me in all these areas, but more importantly still:
I’d stop being such a scaredy-cat and I’d start playing to win.
If you think about it, the fear of what might happen or how much it might hurt when you go all in is SO ridiculous in light of what waits in store for you on the other side of fear, but also –
So what if it hurts?
Pain won’t kill you.
Pain is how you GROW!! And it’s a perception thing, anyway, ’cause I don’t know about you but I know that pretty much, let me see, ALWAYS, when I face into something I thought would hurt or I’d fail or maybe not have what it takes or whatEVER, even the act of DOING the work is the most exhilarating thing ever.
Never mind the outcomes that inevitably ensue!
And it’s SUCH a trap, isn’t it?
The idea that to avoid pain and going ALL in is smart!
What if today was the day you decide to jump off the cliff like you fucking mean it? What if today you started writing the ACTUAL shit that’s pouring out of you, what if you showed up and performed / messaged on what you REALLY think, what if you started the project, messaged the person, turned the fuck up for your LIFE?
You can go through the motions –
You can show up –
And because the norm is to SLEEP TILL YOU’RE DEAD you’ll still be a winner.
But that’s not the same as taking off the layer of fear and even SLIGHT caution and reserve and playing to actually win.
I mean, really:
The idea of fighting to the death might scare you.
But doesn’t the idea of dying without ever actually showing up for the fight scare you more?
It’s time to get your shit together.
Sit your ass down and write down what you WOULD be doing if you were actually pressing play like you knew this is your one shot.
And then? Commit that you’re not going to only SHOW THE FUCK UP, but that you’re going to do it like it’s your last day on this earth and you’re going to be damned if you don’t leave an imprint.
Time to get bloody baby. Gloves up. Let’s go.
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